The Expelled
by NovemberMurray
Summary: Their relationship was defined when she was his Commander and he was her Captain. Now that they've both left the Grand Army of the Republic behind boundaries are blurry and the future is uncertain. What happens to Ahsoka and Rex before and during Order 66. Ahsoka/Rex. (Ties into my other AU stories; not necessary to read this.)
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So this was a response to reading the beginning of What Ever Happened to Captain Rex? Similar thing except in my continuity. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

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The Expelled by November Murray

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_Part I: "She Must Get Off On Saving My Life, But Damn If It's Not Attractive."_

Ahsoka couldn't stop staring at the far too familiar face. It had been almost a year since she'd seen a clone trooper without his helmet on. The amazing resemblance this clone shared with her old captain stunned her, everything from the clean shave cheeks to the blond buzz cut of his hair. The clone stared back from where he knelt on the floor of the Shili senator's floating podium, currently docked to the wall of the Senate Meeting room. He was dressed in a rumpled gray uniform of the Senate Building staff and half packed at his feet were a collection of hypo wrenches and technical tools. It couldn't be, Ahsoka told herself. For one thing, the clones she'd known were all on the other side of the galaxy fighting the cursed war. For another this clone had an unfamiliar expression on his face. His strong brow was relaxed, his eyes heavy lidded and his lips were limp and down turned. All the lines of stress and the hard life of a soldier were still deep but lax with hopelessness. No clone she'd ever known looked so defeated least of all…

"It's me Commander," The clone said, deep voice soft but bitingly bitter.

"Rex?" Ahsoka asked, stunned.

"Yep." Captain Rex of the 501st went back to packing up his tools.

"W-what are you doing here?" She asked. "And you know I'm not a Jedi anymore. I don't have a rank."

"Neither do I." Rex responded as he closed his tool box. Ahsoka opened her mouth with a question but Rex answered it before the words had left his mouth. Using the sides of the podium he pulled himself to his feet, gingerly avoiding his right leg. One hand on the stiff appendage he straightened it slowly before putting any weight on it. Ahsoka shut her mouth. Rex sighed once he was fully upright then slowly, careful of his balance on his good leg, bent to retrieve the toolbox.

Ahsoka stepped forward lightly, scooping it up. She held it out and met his deep brown eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, Commander. I don't need your pity." Rex took back the toolbox, a frown etched deeply on his face and his brows furrowed in anger. "I'm one of the lucky ones. I'm alive." His words were biting, almost sarcastic.

"Rex," Ahsoka wanted to say something but the former captain was already limping around her and away. Just as he was rounding the corner to the hallway Hodahr, Captain of the Shili Senator's Guard, came around in the opposite directions. Dressed as Ahsoka was in the livery of the Shili Royal Clan, stark white fur and brilliant orange silks embroidered with red, Hodahr overshadowed Rex in both height and appearance. The togruta male and clone glanced at each other before passing wordlessly.

"Who was that?" Hodahr asked as he sauntered onto the podium with Ahsoka, standing a little closer than she would have liked.

"An old friend," she replied and turned away, taking her seat at the back rim.

"Oh, from your Jedi days?"

"Yes." She growled sharply, signaling that was the end of the conversation. Hodahr just shrugged. He went about inspecting the podium.

"Well, let's hope _your friend_ did a good job fixing the control panel."

"Did they finally send someone?" Senator Jaina Emala of the Togruta home world of Shili walked regally onto the podium. Her long gray and black lekku stood out starkly against her abnormally pale, green-tinged skin and white robes.

"So it would seem," Hodahr responded.

"I would hope that you thanked him in my stead, Captain," Senator Emala said smoothly, her voice whispery but full of poise and command.

"I will see that it is done," Hodahr replied, he managed to keep contempt off his face but Ahsoka felt it in the Force. She'd only been on Coruscant for a few days in response to a few threats against the Senator but already she was coming to despise Emala's arrogant and dismissive Captain. Silently she was waiting for him to make a mistake that she could report back to the Head of the Royal Guard when she returned to Shili. So far she'd been disappointed but it was early days yet.

"It would seem everything is in order," Emala noted. "The technology at least will be assured to cooperate. If only the other Senators were so easily swayed."

"If they were there would be no need for our presence," Ahsoka noted.

"I dream of that day," Emala replied with a smile over her shoulder at the younger girl. The senator herself was not terribly older than Ahsoka. As the eldest daughter of a powerful clan head, she held sway in Shili society as well as a high ranking elected position. It didn't temper her idealism, something Ahsoka admired as much as she thought it was impractical. Her own idealism had been ruined by reality. Despite that experience, the young ex-Jedi was growing fond of her current charge. "Until then," Emala continued with a sigh, "I will have to rely on good people like you Ahsoka Tano who wield great power with great respect for destruction."

Her words sparked an idea in Ahsoka's brain. Only the calling to order of the Senate by the Chancellor stopped her short. Ahsoka bit back her words. Impatiently she sat through the Senate's long winded and circular debates all the while that spark burned in her mind, taking shape. The more it grew in her mind the more alluring it became the more she fed it attention. It was nearly bursting from her as the day ended and the debates were closed for the night.

Ahsoka followed Hodahr and Senator Emala back to the Shili Senator's office. There Hodahr turned control of the security detail over to his second in command and clocked out for the day. Ahsoka checked the halls and adjoining offices for threats herself to be thorough before putting aside her duties as a protector and taking up her duties as a friend.

Ahsoka knocked lightly on the door of Senator Emala's office.

"Come in." Ahsoka entered. "Ah, Guard Tano, is something wrong?"

"No, I have found nothing to suggest you are in danger, my lady."

"That's a relief. I told his Majesty that I did not think the threats were serious."

"He takes a very active interest in your safety, my lady," Ahsoka replied. The king in fact took a great deal of interest in the Senator's marital options as well considering his eldest son was about Emala's age.

"Yes well, his Majesty is very kind." Emala set aside what she was working on and smiled kindly, "What can I do for you, Ahsoka?" Perceiving this was not a formal matter Jaina motioned to a chair across the desk. Ahsoka took the offered seat, clasping her sweaty hands together in her lap.

"I- I wanted to talk to you about a friend of mine," Ahsoka started awkwardly.

"A friend."

"Yes, I saw him today and… he's changed."

"A Jedi?" Emala asked.

"No, ummm, a clone."

"Oh, from the army." Jaina's personal interest was piqued.

"Yes. He was the captain of a squad I often deployed with."

"I see, so you were comrades."

"Yes," Ahsoka said hesitantly. It was true but it felt inadequate to say that, Rex was a lot more than just a Captain to her. He'd been her mentor and her friend. There were certain things she couldn't talk about with her Master that she could say to Rex without fear. There was a time when she would have said she trusted him more than anyone else in the world. She wasn't sure where their relationship was now, their situations had both changed.

"You don't talk about your time in the army much," Jaina said softly.

"No, it's… uncomfortable."

"You left many friends behind when you left."

"All of them," Ahsoka said honestly.

"Tell me about this friend of yours. I've never met a clone, only been protected by them." She referred to the Clone Troopers that often assisted the Senate Guard.

"His name is Rex. He's a good man, loyal and a fighter. He's the kind of guy who never does anything half way. We had a lot of close scrapes but he would follow Master and me into just about anything. We relied on him… a lot."

"He sounds a little like you."

"Maybe at one time," Ahsoka looked down as she spoke. She wouldn't describe herself as a fighter anymore; that had been sapped from her long ago.

"Is your friend in trouble?" The Senator asked.

"I- I think so. He didn't look so good when I talked to him. He was discharged and I think he's taking it hard. He was the one who fixed the podium console."

"I see. It must be quite a shift, Captain to technician."

"Yeah." Ahsoka wrung her hands together and swallowed before continuing. "It just doesn't seem right. He's the best soldier I know, even if he is injured, I… I don't like thinking of him being…"

"…demoted?"

"…cast aside," Ahsoka finished.

"I would be honored to meet this friend of yours," Emala said. When Ahsoka looked up she saw the soft smile on the older woman's face and a gleam of understanding in her eyes. "He sounds like the kind of man who's good to have around."

"He is. I will arrange it as soon as you are ready." Ahsoka couldn't help smiling.

"I am willing to meet him immediately. You always know where to find me, Ahsoka."

"Thank you, Jaina. I will see if he can meet you tomorrow morning." Ahsoka stood, suddenly filled with anticipation and motivated by hope.

"Good night, Guard Tano."

"Good night, Senator."

.

It wasn't hard to find Rex. Most of the workers arrived and left by the service entrances nearest the rail station. Ahsoka followed her senses there and stood in the ally outside the door. The broiling feelings of anger, self doubt, and listlessness that was the new ex-Captain Rex alerted Ahsoka before the man himself came out, now dressed in non-descript pants and a heavy navy blue jacket, a cap pulled tightly over his head, shielding the recognizable face from immediate view. It also blocked his view of Ahsoka till he was right in front of her.

"The civi's look good on you," Ahsoka said as he approached. Rex looked up, shocked. Shock quickly became a frown and a flash of shame before Rex looked away.

"What are you doing here, Commander?"

"I'm not a Jedi anymore." She reminded him.

"And I'm not a soldier. I have a train to catch." He walked on toward the street, limping slightly on his right leg.

"Rex!" Ahsoka's heart stabbed painfully at the dismissal. "Rex, I have a speeder," Ahsoka said, falling in step beside him, "let me give you a ride."

"I can walk just fine."

"I'm not doubting that." She held up her hands in mock surrender, "I was just hoping we could have a drink." Rex stopped in his tracks. "Catch up… I mean... it's been a while since we… talked." She tried to smile.

Rex stood frozen in place, his mind spinning behind his eyes. Finally he gulped and nodded.

"Yeah," he said, a bit breathless, "that would be nice, Commander—I mean Miss Tano."

"Right this way, _Mr. _Rex," Ahsoka couldn't help herself. It sounded so strange to hear Rex say "Miss".

"Jaig, Rex Jaig, now." He said, following her out of the ally toward her speeder. "Turns out you need two names in the real world."

"Well then, Mr. Jaig," Ahsoka said as she started the engine, "know of any good places for a drink in Coruscant? I haven't been back in quite a while."

"Can't say I've explored it much."

"I guess we're going in blind then." She shot him a smile and caught the slightest upward twitch to one side of his lips, a hint of the old Rex.

.

They ended up in a lively bar not to far from where Senator Emala's apartment was. The place had a steady stream of people coming and going but booths were set into recesses in the curved wall. The whole floor was a large spiral that wound upward gradually around a center stage where an acoustic band was preforming. It was pleasant and lively atmosphere. No one bothered to notice the young togruta and the clone in civilian clothes sitting tucked away toward the top floor.

"The music isn't bad," Ahsoka noted while they waited on their drinks to arrive.

"Can't hear much of it," Rex said. "Can't hear a thing in this ear," he tapped his right ear. Ashoka realized he'd purposefully put her to his left.

"I wasn't going to ask."

"It's alright, Comman—Ah…"

"Ahsoka is fine so long as I can call you Rex."

"Of course… Ahsoka."

Their drinks were delivered by the waitress droid: a brilliant red Togrutan smoothie for Ashoka and a beer for Rex. They both drank in silence for a minute.

"Are you going to ask?" Rex finally spoke.

"Only if you want to talk about it."

"Better to get it out of the way isn't it?"

Ahsoka just looked back at him understandingly. For a moment Rex mistook it for patronizing but then it dawned on him that Ahsoka alone knew what it was like to have one's identity stripped away. Her life as a Jedi had been torn apart by the false allegations just as his life as a soldier ended suddenly and violently. Rex sighed.

"It was perfect, you know," he started. "The only way our squad was going to get out of that hell hole alive before it crashed in the cursed toxic ocean was if someone stayed behind and guarded the grav controls. That was me. When the Sepies bombed it I was still holding the Tinnies at the blast doors. The transports were taking off. My brothers were safe because of me. Like I said, perfect," Rex gazed off into the bar, not really seeing it. "Only problem was, I didn't die. I woke up in the Med Bay of a Star Cruiser with half of my body numb and my head nearly cracked open." Rex fell quiet for a moment and Ahsoka noticed him rubbing his right leg. "Sometimes it feels like that explosion never ended, it just keeps going in my head. I even hear it some times," he tapped his deaf ear.

"Wasn't there anything they could do?"

"Yeah, General Skywalker saved my life. Dragged me out of the sinking wreckage."

"I mean…" She trailed off.

"No. Nerve damage," Rex explained. "There was shrapnel in my spine, nerves never regenerate quite right, you know. I lost sound in this ear, half the sight in my right eye, some movement in my shoulder and strength in the whole right side of my body. I could still be the best, goddamn shot in the GAR but I don't pass the physical. Official decommission went through four months ago."

"I'm sorry, Rex." Ahsoka whispered, the word _decommission_ echoing in her head ominously.

"Yeah, me too." The soldier muttered and went back to his drink. Ahsoka thought but didn't dare ask, _sorry you were injured or sorry you survived? _Rex glanced at her and seemed to pull himself out of dark thoughts. "They said I might get a lot of it back, over time. Ear's busted but if I work at it I'll get the full range of moment back in my arm and leg."

"There's hope then," Ahsoka said but Rex as still shaking his head.

"My army career is still over."

Tense silence fell between them again.

"So how did you end up in the Sensate Building as a technician?" She asked.

"I've got the General to thank for that as well. In the down time he taught me a lot about fixing our tech over the years. When he heard I was… not coming back he suggested I be reassigned here. It was this or returning to Kamino." Rex tensed as he said the words and Ahsoka felt tension radiating off him in the Force.

"What would you do on Kamino?" She asked, wondering more to herself than seriously asking. The response from Rex was immediate. It felt like a shiver down her own spine, pure dread and fear. She had felt fear off Rex before, a battle was always terrifying but it was always offset with determination, to fight and go down doing everything he could to survive and insure as many of his brothers as possible survived with him. "Rex?" She turned to him but he was looking out over the bar with a carefully blank expression, sipping his beer.

"A decommissioned clone is no use to the Republic, just a failed investment." He finally said, still unable to meet her eyes.

"That's…" Ahsoka's mouth went dry.

"It's not as bad as you think. Most of us die before we get decommissioned. We prefer it that way."

"Don't say it like that, Rex." Ahsoka's voice was tight with emotions he couldn't recognize.

"Why? Cause it's the truth? Given the choice wouldn't you rather die facing the enemy than with-"

"No." Ahsoka glared at him. "Don't say it like you're jealous."

"I can't be that jealous, I chose this." He responded. Like always he was impervious to her glare, remaining calm and resolute.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, there was something they could do, cybernetic spinal implants."

"That surgery is risky."

"35 percent survival rate risky, yeah. And the recovery is… painful…" Rex looked out over the bar. "Maybe a year ago I would have said yes and taken the risk… maybe… but then I thought about Fives, Echo, even you. It just didn't seem worth it for people who didn't care what happened to me."

"That's not true…"

"If the Jedi Council could turn their back on one of their own, a _Jedi_, then no way is the Republic going to show any loyalty to a _clone,_ the seven thousand five hundred and sixty seventh of ten million. I'm on borrowed time here already."

"Rex," Ahsoka felt her heart breaking a little to see her friend torn down and beaten so badly by the world. It only hardened her resolution though to help him in any way she could. Ahsoka reached into the folds of her uniform to the hidden pocket where she kept her most prized possession. Under the table she slipped it into Rex's lap.

"What… where did you get this?" He lifted up the lightsaber under the table, careful to keep it out of view.

Ahsoka smirked, "I didn't steal it. Master Obi-Wan came to see me after my trial and brought it to me."

"I didn't think they'd allow you to have it back if you'd left."

"They wouldn't, but Master Obi-Wan had his own ideas. He and Senator Amidala got me this job working for the Shili Royal Guard, protecting Senator Emala." Ahsoka found that once she started talking she couldn't stop. "She's a great woman, Rex, committed to the people she represents and to finding a peaceful solution to this war. I think Jaina's the kind of person you'd respect. She's a lot like Obi-Wan in many ways and she'd like to meet you. Senator Emala values loyalty and experience most, she could use someone like you watching her back when I have to return to Shili."

"Ahsoka, are you trying… to get me a job?" Rex asked stunned.

"Is it so surprising?" She retorted. "Even if the Council abandoned me, my friends never did and I won't abandon you, Rex. You were never just a number to me." She reached over and put her hand over his on the hilt of her lightsaber.

The soldier stared back at her, his hand under hers shaking. For a long moment he was frozen with shock then without warning he smiled, a real smile.

"You haven't changed at all, Commander," He said, eyes glistening.

"Neither have you, Captain," she countered and accepted her lightsaber back. "I told Emala you'd meet her tomorrow."

"You didn't even know if I'd say yes."

"I knew, Rex. We both know, you were never meant to fix podium consoles or disassemble droids with laser fire."

"I might have to disagree with the latter."

"No, you were meant to protect people," Ahsoka said, smiling. Rex paused, glass halfway to his lips and looked at her sidelong before smiling.

Yeah, he thought leaning back and forgetting his pain for the first time, she's right.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Part II: "Her New Boys Don't Like Me Much, and They're Happy To Tell Me So."_**

"You look excited Captain," Senator Emala said to the newly promoted Captain of her personal guard. Rex Jaig stood beside her chair facing the view port behind her dressed in a red sleeveless jacket trimmed with fur on one shoulder. He wore more armor and less ostentatious clothing compared to the traditional garb of her Togruta protectors but as a former clone and the only human member of her team she allowed it.

"I've never been to Shili, Senator," He said to her now.

"I hope you aren't disappointed. After your extensive travels in the Outer Rim I don't think you will find Shili notable for any particular beauty or adversity. Most of our planet is covered in grass. We are not a people motivated to build beyond our needs or to impress so there are no great sights in our cities. Our people value art and knowledge but our tastes are often lost on outsiders."

"No disrespect, my lady, but I'm not really interested in sight seeing," Rex replied, a soft smile on his face.

"Then perhaps it is the company you'll find on Shili that sparks your interest," the Senator said with a smile over her shoulder. Rex glanced her way before grinning.

"It will be good to see my old Commander again."

"I look forward to Ahsoka's company as well," Jaina said with a nod. "I would like to thank her in person for introducing us."

"I just do my job, Senator."

"You do your job very well," She corrected with a smirk. Rex had to smile back. He was truly happy to be working for Senator Jaina Emala. Ahsoka hadn't lied when she said the woman was worth admiring. She was a kind soul who loved with an open heart and accepted people without prejudice. He had to admit though, he found the formality she maintained on and off the job a bit stifling. He'd always found the upper levels of Coruscant where Jaina lived and worked stifling. He was looking forward to spending time with his old witty and down to earth friend.

The Senator's shuttle made it's final decent to the landing platform in the center of the Togruta capital of Shili-kai. Shili-kai was built on a rocky multi-leveled plateau that rose above the expansive grasslands that stretched nearly to the horizon, where jagged orange and umber mountains rose as small humps against the vast sky. Most of the buildings were low two story affairs, widely spaced and set far apart with paths, gardens and pavilions between them. Though sparsely adorned, they were of quality construction and barely showed the many year of care they had received. A few larger buildings, ten or more stories high were scattered across the city and rose like monoliths above the others. It was neither the most technologically advanced or developed city Rex had ever seen, it lacked the flashing signs, speeder traffic lanes and pervasive advertising of a place like Coruscant. But it was far from the most primitive. The predominance of neutral earth tones gave the place a naturalistic feel while the clear planning of the city gave it sophistication.

"I don't know what you were talking about, Senator," Rex said as they landed, "it's a beautiful city."

"I'm glad you like it," She replied, "perhaps you'll come visit me when I retire."

"That's not for a long time yet, my lady."

"Can you fault me for dwelling on the eventuality?" She asked, a small coy smile on her lips. Rex thought back to the metaphorical snake pit that was the Republic Senate and shook his head.

"No, I can't."

"Well, until then I will just have to make the most of my time. Shall we go, Captain?" She offered her hand. Rex put his helmet on before placing the offered hand on his arm.

Rex led the Senator down the boarding ramp, eyes alert behind the visor for any threats. There was a small delegation on the pad to meet the Senator. In the center was a tall portly Togruta male. He had greenish coloring and tall graceful montrals. Between the crooked, menacing looking horns of the guards around him, he looked almost effeminate, an effect that wasn't hindered by his elaborate dress. That, Rex assumed, was the king and traditional ruler of the most powerful Togruti clan. Though he was much more of a figurehead in modern Togruta society he carried a lot of respect and sway on Shili. Beside the king was a graceful woman with the most elaborate headdress Rex had ever seen on a Togruta. It wound up her teardrop shaped montrals to their gold covered tips and all the way down her sweeping lekku. Even as a human he could appreciate her beauty. Lady Emala is at least more refined, Rex thought to himself, comparing the Senator's pale orange and cream robes to the gold and cerulean robes of the Queen. The vivid blue was a color of power on Shili as the traditional source of the dye was rare and hard to extract.

Beside the Royal Couple were two taller male togruta with collars of gold to denote their status and a young girl in the orange and red livery of the Royal house cradling a toddler swaddled in blue. There was a small party of court members in fancy clothing and uniformed guards in a lose formation around the whole affair. The guard closest to the king stood out. Not only was she female, but she was smaller than the others.

Ahsoka Tano stood proudly, stubborn chin lifted and a smirk on her full dark lips. Rex smiled behind his helmet. She's beautiful, he thought and for the first time didn't feel any guilt for thinking it. Her bronze skin glowed the sunlight and her white teeth flashed a smile when she caught sight of him.

The Royal party strode forward and greeted Jaina in the Togruti language. Rex understood most of it; he'd been studying. He'd found it was good to know what his men were saying about him when they thought he didn't understand. Formalities over with, the King had the taller and larger of his sons offer his arm to Jaina who left Rex with a quick, sorrowful glance. Rex glared at the prince behind his visor. At the typical dignitaries' pace, the procession started into the city. Rex walked at the side where he could keep watch on Jaina and her royal escort but also come up next to his old Commander.

"The colors look good on you, Rex," Ahsoka said with a smirk.

"They don't look so bad on you either, Commander," he replied.

"It's Captain now and since we're the same rank you have no excuse not to call me Ahsoka."

"Yes, sir." He grinned behind the helmet. She must have heard it in his voice because she poked him in the side, it hurt a lot more without his plastoid chest plate.

The Royal procession walked down what must have been the main boulevard, though it curved back and forth over the plateau. Twice they climbed large staircases cut into the rocky ground and finally approached the largest structure in Shili-kai. Though the lower levels, made of terraced walkways and covered colonnades, were built of the same natural materials as the common buildings, the upper levels were glittering glass domes. Four large wedge shaped spires dominated the center of the palace and reached up toward the vast cloudless sky.

"Quite a Royal Palace," Rex noted.

"It's more than that," Ahsoka said beside him. "It's the center of all Shili society, the Royal family does live there but it's also the meeting place for the Shili High Council, delegates, the trade guilds, and even the religious leaders. The National Library, State Records, and Military Headquarters are all in this one building."

Rex looked at the building again. It was bustling with activity in and around. Togrutans entered and left from every side.

"Looks like a security nightmare."

"It can be," Ahsoka laughed. "You'll probably want to get the Senator settled in her suite. She'll have a whole floor to herself, easily secured, and round the clock guards under Captain Taahsu." Ahsoka pointed. Rex followed her finger to the tall, older togruta male in Royal livery. He noted that, like Ahsoka, there was an orange-gold braid hanging around the fur cape of his uniform. He filed the information away.

"Thanks." Rex said to Ahsoka before turning his eyes to Senator Emala. Jaina looked incredibly board on the prince's arms and he seemed to be paying her no attention at all.

"You let me know if you have any trouble with the locals, ok."

"Trouble?"

"There are some _di'kute_ who think a human clone isn't good enough protection for our Senator," Ahsoka grumbled.

"I think you'd call them_ taruuka,_" He said using the Togruti insult for one of little faith, closed minded and traditional. He left Ahsoka with her look of shock to rescue his lady from her unsavory company.

.

There was one great natural beauty of Shili that Jaina had overlooked and the best place to see it was the open walkways that ringed the lower levels of Shili-kai palace. From there Rex could see all the way across the planes of long white and red grasses to the setting sun, larger and redder than that of Coruscant as it lit up the multi layered atmosphere of Shili in a spectacular play of colors.

"That's probably the best thing about Shili," Ahsoka's voice shouldn't have surprised him. She was a Jedi, or former Jedi, and always had a way of finding him.

"It's quite a place."

"I like it," Ahsoka replied, coming to stand next to him by the open drop between the columns. Rex glanced over, eyes sliding up and down the familiar and yet new person beside him. She was taller, not by much, but still taller than he remembered. She had changed out of her uniform and opted for the more muted red colors she used to wear. She was even dressed in a similar outfit, a tight fitting top with an open back, but her skirt was separate fuller and longer. Her sash fell down to her knees and the skirt a little farther, spit down the middle and shorter in the back than the front. Despite the new attire, the concealed lightsabers, the fullness of her chest and her long lekku hanging to her elbows, she looked like the girl he remembered from his days in the army.

"You look happy," He said.

"You do too," She returned, sharp blue eyes inspecting his face, the remaining lines there and the day's worth of stubble on his chin. Overall Rex looked comfortable to her. In the Force he felt like a point of calm waters, deep and dark at its depths, but clear at the top. It was different from how he'd felt as a soldier, stagnant with deep undercurrents just below the surface, and from the turbulent clashing of waves he had been when she found him on Coruscant. He smirked, warm dark eyes promising laughter.

"Miss Tano," He said, arms crossed, "know any good places to get a drink in Shili-kai? I haven't been here before." He mirrored her words from almost a year ago on Coruscant.

"Mr. Jaig, as a mater of fact, I do."

.

Shili-kai was more beautiful at night. Togrutas seemed to like their night life because after the sun set half the city seemed to light up in every color of the spectrum. The dull earthen buildings were awash in varicolored lights strung between shops and restaurants along the market street that stretched from the Royal Palace to the second largest building in Shili-kai, the Bazaar. The Bazaar was a long low glass roofed building with a few spiraling glass turrets, now lit from the inside with multicolored fire. In the night the gently curving domes glowed invitingly as Rex and Ahsoka walked toward them. They wove through the crowds. Groups of elaborately dressed Togrutans passed them on every side, most were young, teenagers and young adults without a care in the world. The two Captains kept a slow pace and Ahsoka watched Rex's slight limp suspiciously.

"You sure you wouldn't have rather taken a speeder?" Ahsoka asked.

"Nah," Rex shook his head, "exercise is good for me. I've been on that ship all day. Don't worry about me."

She glanced at him sidelong.

"Really," Rex assured her. "I'm healed a lot from the last time I saw you. Keeping active with the Senator has been good for me."

"So, back to your old self?"

"Not entirely," He said with a small shrug. "I wouldn't be able to keep up with General Skywalker. Kenobi, probably."

"What about me?"

"I could never keep up with you, kid."

"Rex!" Ahsoka elbowed him lightly. "I thought you'd stopped calling me that!" He just chuckled. He had, and he'd stopped thinking of her as a kid too. The war had forced her to grow up on the inside, hard and fast. Now her maturity finally showed on the outside. Even if she was the same age as most of the party goers around them no one could mistake her for a carefree youth. She held herself proud and tall, walked with purpose and with confidence in her own power.

"Rex?" Ahsoka asked.

He realized he'd been staring and his mouth went dry as he swallowed. "Sorry, Ahsoka."

"It's alright." She said with one white lined brow raised. The dark marking of her montrals blushed. Rex was surprised he'd never noticed them do so before. Jaina had needed to explain to him what it meant in females of her species a few months ago.

"So where are we going?" He asked quickly.

"Oh just a little place I go on my off nights." Ahsoka said with a smile.

"The ones when you're not working?"

"No," She said, sharp teeth bared in a grin, "the ones when I'm not hunting."

"Hunting?" He was surprised despite himself. Most Togruta, even the city dwellers, were big hunters. It was part of their instincts and their culture. Even young women were encouraged to learn though Jaina said she'd found it distasteful. They didn't usually continue after they married and settled down but among men it was both a pastime and a necessity to earn respect in the culture. "You any good?" he asked Ahsoka. Her shoulders immediately slumped.

"No, not really," shaking it off she continued, "but it makes the boy's feel better after I sweep the training room floor with their shebs." Rex had to laugh at that. None of _his _men had ever been stupid enough to challenge her on the wrestling mat.

"I bet you keep them in shape."

"I do! I heard you've been getting the Senator's Guards into order."

"Sharal di'kut Hodahr let them get away with anything. You warned me about him. We were just lucky it didn't cost the Senator her life."

"She doesn't seem to think luck had anything to do with it. Jaina called me to her room personally after you went off duty today to thank me for finding you. It was your good aim that saved her life."

"I forgot, you don't believe in luck." Rex said, the back of his neck warm with a rush of hot blood.

"I didn't before; the Order doesn't," Ahsoka said and Rex was comforted to hear no bitter note in her voice when she spoke of the Jedi. "Now I'm not so sure," She went on thoughtfully, looking at him with the corners of her full lips turned upward.

"What changed your mind?"

"Well running into you on Coruscant was lucky for both of us."

"Me more than you." He stopped and looked straight at her with a serious expression on his face, not that of a soldier but no less somber. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, Ahsoka. You saved my life, just like you've been doing since the day I met you."

"Rex, don't be so dramatic," She said, clearly uncomfortable.

"I'm not," he insisted. "I wouldn't have lasted long the way that I was. You were right; it's not the life I was born for. Thank you."

Ahsoka opened her mouth from a frown as if to argue but paused. She reached out and took one of his hands, her skin cool against his, her lightsaber callouses brushing against his blaster callouses, and she smiled. "You're welcome, Rex."

"Drinks on me, then," He said with a weak chuckle to break the mood.

"If you insist, there _are_ a few new drinks I'd like to try," She grinned playfully, letting the moment pass but keeping his hand. They walked on, hand in hand down the brightly lit Shili-kai streets.

The bar Ahsoka led him to was in a spherical building surrounded by a garden with high seats and tables under a canopy of lights that swayed in a slight breeze. Patrons stood or sat all round the building while waitresses in tight black uniforms moved between them. Ahsoka led him inside the domed building. It was dimmer there than in the fading twilight outside and each table was lit by a globe hovering overtop it. Ahsoka spotted an empty two-person table and snagged it as the waitress finished whipping down the countertop. Her hand slipped out of his as she sat down, Rex's skin felt cold without her touch.

"Seems like a nice enough place," Rex said as he sat down.

"Look up." He did. There on the ceiling hundreds of tinny dim lights sketched out familiar constellations. "The bar is called _Bituin_."

"Stars," he translated.

"Yeah, the atmosphere is too thick and turbulent here to see more than a handful even out on the plains," Ahsoka sounded wistful. "I come here just to look at them."

"You don't seem them much in Coruscant either," Rex said, "too much light."

"Growing up there I didn't see stars till I went to build my lightsaber."

"I didn't see stars until the First Battle of Geonosis. It never stopped raining long enough to see the sky where I was born. The Kaminoan's like it that way; they hate the sun."

"I guess we're not so different." Ahsoka said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Because we both grew up not seeing the stars?"

"No, the Jedi take younglings when they're little more than babies. I don't even remember my life before Master Plo found me." Ahsoka looked down at the table and traced patterns on the worn wood grain. "We were both raised for a purpose. Look at us now." She followed up her statement with a short humorless laugh.

Rex was looking though. Her eyelashes were casting shadows over her warm red-brown cheeks and her lips were even darker in the dim light, standing out, catching reflected light off the polished tabletop. Her blue eyes turned up to him, shadows of lashes disappearing. He swallowed, "I think we turned out alright."

It earned him a grin.

"Captain!" A voice called across the bar.

"Oh great," Ahsoka groaned before three men in a flurry of garish colors descended on their table. One dragged over a chair, spinning it around to sit backwards on it and grin at Ahsoka.

"Out for a night on the town?" One of them asked, his green skin looked sickly to Rex next to the bright yellow and purple tunic.

_"__With a special friend?" _the sitting man asked in Togruti, his head inclined curving montrals twitching toward Rex. He had slanted eyes that Rex didn't like and bold markings on his face.

_"__Bit old for you isn't he?" _The last boy asked, he was the tallest of the group, gangly and awkward looking with his large hands and feet. The vivid orange and saffron outfit he wore hung close to his bonny hips and chest.

_"__None of your business," _Ahsoka growled back in the same language.

_"__I think it's good for you to have a little fun, Captain," _Green-boy said.

_"__Just don't break him," _Lanky added with a snicker.

Rex decided it was time to end his charade of ignorance.

_"__Compared to the Female Zabrak I met on Teth Ahsoka is practically tame,"_ he said smoothly. All four Togrutas looked at him in surprise. Squinty rose from his chair growling while Lanky's jaw dropped and Green-boy looked between the two Captains worriedly.

"Rex." Ahsoka growled, apparently she didn't appreciate being compared to the 'hairless harpy' Ventress.

_"__This is Rex?"_ Green-boy asked in surprise. The other's seemed equally shocked.

"Yes, Di'kute," She growled.

_"__Oh,"_ Lanky said in shock, _"he's shorter than I expected."_

_"__You didn't say that's who he was,"_ Squinty said.

_"__You didn't give me a chance!"_ Ahsoka replied.

"Sorry about that," Squinty turned to Rex and offered a hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You told them about me?" Rex asked his old Commander shaking the offered hand somewhat hesitantly.

"Of course," she said, looking down at the table, her montrals quickly blushing to a deep black.

"Oh yeah!" Green-boy chimed in. "She never hesitates to remind us how much better Clones are. 'Rex and his men would be over that wall in half the time.' 'Rex would have you swabbing decks for a week.' 'Rex would kick your sharal shebs all the way back to Cori.'" The boys disintegrated into laughter at Greenie's imitations of Ahsoka while her blush spread down her lekku and across her cheeks. Rex found himself chuckling as well. She'd apparently said those things enough to pass on a few Manado'a phrases too.

"Welcome to Stars," A waitress had arrived at their table. "Would you like to pull some tables together?" She asked, looking at the standing boys.

"No," Ahsoka said quickly. "They were just leaving." There was a pointed look at the boys, who were still sharing snickers.

"Yeah, we'll leave you to your _special night_, Captain," Lanky said grinning.

"Nice meeting you, Rex," Greenie added.

_"__Make him squirm, Captain Stubs," _Squinty stage whispered over his shoulder in Togruti as the three walked toward a table across the room where men and women in similar dress were already drinking and laughing loudly.

"So just the two of you?" The waitress asked.

"Yes," Rex told her. He and Ahsoka ordered, choosing hastily from the menu.

_"__Stubs?"_ Rex asked when the waitress was gone.

"Ugh," Ahsoka blushed again, he was finding that he enjoyed seeing her do so. "It was a nickname I got when I first arrived and my… montrals were… short." Rex held back a snicker. "It just never went away," She huffed. "They're not that bad… mostly. They're better when they're sober."

"I'll take your word for it," He said, holding back a grin. "The Generals would frown though, if they knew you were teaching rookies bad language."

"Hey! Anakin said much worse things!"

"Yeah he did. I wonder where he picked up all those words, some of them I don't even know."

"Probably Tattooine, that's where he grew up."

"Huh, he never mentioned it."

"No, Master—Anakin never liked to talk about his past. I kind of understand now. The curiosity is annoying when you'd rather leave it all behind."

"You get a lot of questions about the Jedi?"

"Well they don't come here much so they're even more of a mystery than they are other places."

"I've worked side by side with Jedi for years and I think you're—they're a mystery." Inwardly Rex kicked himself for the slip up. Ahsoka took it with a flinch but moved on.

"Honestly when I arrived, Shili culture was as much a mystery to me as the Jedi are to them. I still feel like an outsider some days."

"I know that feeling." He continued in response to her questioning look. "I've grown up surrounded by people just like me, even if we're individuals, we are all brothers. Now I work for an entirely different species and I'm surrounded by cultures I don't understand every day in the Senate."

"Is that why you started learning Togruti?" She asked.

"Yeah, partly. Mostly I needed to know what my men were saying behind my back. They didn't like me being promoted over them any more than your Royal Guard likes it."

She gave him a sympathetic look. "I know you're the right man for the job."

"So do I, half of my new men are lazy and the other half are too headstrong to be reasoned with. What I wouldn't give for half a dozen _vode _behind me," he shook his head but he was smiling. "I'll get them together soon enough."

"I'm sure you will."

Their drinks arrived moments later; the local brew for Rex and something vivid green and bubbly in a small slender glass for Ahsoka.

"What is that?" Rex asked.

"I don't know. I just wanted to try it because it's the same color as my lightsabers," She answered honestly.

"That's ridiculous."

"Oh live a little," She replied and took the first sip. Her eyes went wide.

"Bad?" He asked.

"Strong," She replied and put it down. He just chuckled.

"Remind me not to order one. Anything you say is strong will probably knock a human on his back."

"If only you'd told Fives that before he challenged me to a drinking game."

"I did." Rex grinned, remembering that night (because unlike the rest of his brothers he was sober.) He and Ahsoka were probably the only ones who remembered more than the painful morning after. They had stayed up after the others crashed talking and making jokes, swapping stories of the early war in Rex's case and her missions with Anakin in Ahsoka's. He'd been the one to walk her back to her cabin, preventing her from making a wrong turn more than once. She'd mumbled a good night and a thank you at her door. When he asked what for she said for letting her drink Fives under the table, with a wicked mischievous smile. Fives' face flashed before his eyes more vivid then the hazy happy memories and sharp with pain. His friend looked up at Rex in the memory, delirious and babbling, dying in his arms. Rex frowned and drank.

"What?" She'd caught the look, or perhaps just felt the shift in his thoughts. She was still a Jedi in that at least.

"Fives is dead." He didn't bother denying it, he'd always been straight with her before.

"What? When?"

"After you… left. You remember Tup?"

"Yeah. I didn't know him well but I remember him."

"Well, just after you left we were fighting on Ringo Vinda. General Skywalker, General Tiplar, and General Tiplee were leading the attack. We were finally making progress when Tup turned on General Tiplar and… executed her."

"What? Why would Tup do something like that?"

"I don't know. The Kaminoans said it was some kind of virus, messed with something in our brains."

"Clone brains?" She asked. Rex nodded.

"Anyway, Fives went with Tup to Kamino to get him fixed, they were friends so I sent them together. Next thing I know Fives is on the run in Coruscant after an attempt on the Chancellor's life. Somehow he got in touch with Kix and asked General Skywalker and I to meet him. He locked us inside a Ray Shield and started babbling nonsense. Republic Trooper Guards showed up before we could convince him to let us out." Rex shook his head. "I don't know what Fives was thinking, raising his weapon against a brother_. Par vode_ _kyr'amur vode, cuyi nu'staabi." (For brothers to kill brothers, it's wrong.)_

"I'm so sorry, Rex." Ahsoka reached across the table and slid her hand into his. He gripped her slender calloused fingers in his own.

"I'm glad you didn't have to see it, Fives wouldn't have wanted that."

With her free hand Ahsoka lifted her drink. "To your brothers," she said.

_"__Oya, ner vode,"_ Rex raised his own glass then drank. Ahsoka downed hers entirely.

"You know what," she said with a grin, "I think this is my new favorite."

He smiled a little. "So, tell me about Shili."

"What do you want to know?"

"What do you do for fun around here?"

"Besides hunt?"

"Yeah, though that sounds like fun if I can bring my DCs?"

"Don't know how the boys would feel about that." Ahsoka said chuckling.

"Please tell me you don't go out with those shabla di'kute," He said motioning toward the younger boys in the middle of the louder group across the bar.

"No! The other Captains and I go together. Prince Jaccar comes every now and then."

"Which one is that?"

"The older one," Ahsoka's face scrunched up a little.

"What? You don't like him or he doesn't like you?" Rex asked.

"I wish he didn't like me," she said, waving to the waitress and pointing at her empty cup. "I'm just different and he's board."

"Hmm," Rex frowned.

"But it's alright, usually they have me working with Prince Sulkahn. He's much easier to deal with."

"_He_ ever go hunting with you?" Rex asked, telling himself the curiosity was not jealousy.

"Sulkahn? No." The idea made Ahsoka laugh. "He'd rather stay in the library, all day… and night." The waitress returned with another green drink for Ahsoka.

"Sounds like an easy job," he replied. "Sometimes I wish the Senator would stay in one place for more than four hours. Some nights she doesn't even sleep longer than that."

"I remember," She nodded. "Jaina's dedicated to her people and the Republic. She'll fight the existence of the war until it ends."

"Even when the Sepie fleet is over our heads," Rex grumbled.

"You were on Coruscant when it was under siege weren't you," Ahsoka realized.

"Yeah, the whole fekking mess. After the Chancellor was kidnapped she spent the whole time debating with Senators about who might be his successor."

"The Chancellorship has become a very powerful position," Ahsoka said softly. She could still remember staring up at him in her trial. The image made her shudder.

"Too powerful if you ask the Senator and her friends. I worry sometimes she's getting into something dangerous and out of her depth with Senators Organa and Amidala."

"I don't think Senator Amidala would be involved in anything inappropriate."

"She might not be," Rex shrugged. "I haven't seen her recently, no one has. Rumor was she left Coruscant. Jaina tried to figure out where she went but couldn't find anything."

"That's odd." Ahsoka frowned.

"Yeah, lots of _odd_ things are happening in the Republic nowadays." He agreed. They sat in a serious thoughtful silence for a moment before Ahsoka shook herself out of it with a motion that twisted her dangling lekku from side to side.

"Enough with unhappy subjects, I haven't seen you in a year and I intent to have a good time," She picked up her drink, "even if I have to resort to…" She trailed off.

Rex saw the change in her face, her eyes widened and her jaw went slack. Her skin and lekku paled as blood drained from her face and she froze. The slender glass tumbled from her fingers onto the table as she pitched forward, trying to stand. Her hand slid across the smooth surface and knocked her empty glass and his over. Her knees gave out and she crumpled to the floor, shaking from the tips of her montrals to her feet. She curled in on herself and tears tumbled down her ashen cheeks. "M-master," she gasped, "master, no."

"Ahsoka!" Rex knelt beside her and reached out for her shoulder, shaking her lightly, "Ahsoka." She didn't seem to hear him or even register his voice.

"Master," she moaned and clamped her hands over her mouth, eyes focused far away.

"Ahsoka," Rex felt panic like he'd never known, it wasn't the resigned fear he'd felt, cornered on Teth, or the mad furious self-loathing he'd felt on Umbara, or even the breath stealing uncertainty lying half paralyzed in the Med Bay. It was a panic of utter helplessness. "Ahsoka," he called her name again desperately.

_"__What have you done?" _Lanky had come over in the commotion and accused Rex loudly.

_"__Nothing! I didn't do anything," _Rex said in Togruti then repeated the words in Basic and looked back Ahsoka who was shaking, her lips moving soundlessly.

_"__What's wrong with the Captain?" _Greenie asked.

_"__Was it something she drank?"_ one of the girls asked but Squinty silenced her.

_"__The Captain's no lightweight."_

_"__We should take her to the Palace, she could be sick," _Greenie suggested. That was the most sensible suggestion Rex had heard and it was something he could do.

"Ahsoka," he said to her, for what it was worth. "I'm taking you back to the Palace, Ok? Come on, Commander." He bent down, wrapping his arms around her, but before he could lift she jump violently, pulling away and screaming.

"NO!"

"A-ahsoka…"

"R-rex?" She finally looked at him, still sprawled on the floor, leaning on her chair, eyes wide. She looked at him in a way he'd never seen before, like she was afraid of him. It made him sick but no more so then her words that followed.

"Why? Why are you killing them? W-why…" she trailed off breathlessly and her body went slack. Her eyes rolled up in her head before she slumped completely.

Rex lunged and caught her, dragging her into his arms and off the ground. She lolled in his grip lifelessly and it terrified him. It was like they were trapped in the crazy scientist's laboratory again and she was dying, there in his arms. Then at least, he had been dying with her.

"I'm going to take care of you, kid," he whispered, "just hold on."

* * *

Author's Note: So this chapter was messed up (it was like pasted in twice or something weird) and none of you told me :( I would have fixed it earlier. Anyway, it's fixed now. Hope you enjoyed it. -Ember


	3. Chapter 3

_Part III: "I Should Have Listened When They Said, 'Never Say Never.'"_

Ahsoka surfaced from her unconsciousness slowly, coming out of the turbulent Force in pieces. The first sense was sound, she could hear footsteps coming nearer then receding, back and forth, pacing. Then smells, the sharp smell of togruta mint leaves and alcohol mixed with blaster cleaning-oil, something smoky, and rain filled her nose. Tastes; alcohol and sweet sharp mint on her tongue. Touch; she felt the rough wool blankets of a bed that wasn't hers, her clothes were twisted uncomfortably under her and her shoto, strapped to her thigh was digging into her skin painfully. She shifted, trying to ease the pain. Her eyes fluttered and sight returned last.

She was looking up at the plaster ceiling of a room with blank walls, it looked like one of the palace guard rooms like her own, but bare and missing the distinctive cracks of her own ceiling. Suddenly a face was in her view.

"Rex," she said, finding her voice horse.

"Ahsoka," he looked relieved. Why? She wondered.

Then the knowledge hit her, like a waterfall on her back knocking the air from her lungs.

"Rex!" She threw her arms around his neck without thought as the tears came spilling from her screwed up eyes. "Rex, it's… it's over…" she sobbed into his shoulder, pressing her montrals against his neck, feeling the warmth of his blood. She gripped his jacket as she tried to explain, "They're dead Rex… Master Plo… Master Mundi… Master Secura… Barriss… Luminara… and Anakin… Anakin's dying…"

"What?" Rex's hands were light on her back and his tone confused, disbelieving.

"They're all dead, Rex! All of them… killed… the war is over… because… I can feel it. There's nothing but the Dark Side, it's everywhere…" she dug her nails into the fabric of his jacket, feeling the plates of armor he concealed under it.

"I don't understand, how could they all be dead? Who could kill all the Jedi at once?" He pulled away looking at her but Ahsoka wouldn't raise her eyes. She was limp again in his hands, hand hanging low. "Ahsoka!"

"I wasn't there. I should have been there…" She sniffed.

"I'm going to get the doctor again," He stood up quickly. "You stay right here, kid. You got me. Right here. If something is wrong with you he'll fix it..."

"It's over, Rex," Ahsoka said and continued to mumble it again and again. "It's over."

"No!" He shook his head firmly. "Stay right there until I come back with the doctor." The door shut firmly behind him. Ahsoka rolled over, laying back on the bed and crying. She was too scared to reach back into the Force, too scared to reach out to her master least the Dark Side might swallow her. She shivered despite the warm air of the Palace, feeling the cold fingers of the clouded Force all around her.

.

Rex strode with purposeful strides through the palace, past the open walkways that ringed the large courtyards under the glass domes. The columns threw shadows in the dim hallways and flashed by as he half ran toward the small suite where the Royal Doctor lived. Haste, he attributed his obviousness to that.

"Halt! Identify!" The familiar voice of a brother over helmet speakers froze him in his tracks. Two DC-15s were raised, leveled at his chest and his white armored brothers stared him down. Automatically Rex raised his arms.

"CT-7567, former Captain Rex of the 501st, on permanent reassignment, sir!" He answered. Their HUDs must have confirmed because the weapons lowered.

"Acknowledged, _vod_." The clone said.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked.

"Respectfully it's Republic business."

"As Captain of the Shili Senator Jaina Emala's Personal Guard, I'm asking you what is your business in the Royal Palace, trooper. This is sovereign ground." His voice was tight and commanding.

"Doing well for yourself, _hut'uun _(coward)" the other trooper said.

"Quiet, Chuckle," his partner snapped, "you don't know who you're talking to." Turning back to Rex he said, "Sir, we're tracking a traitor to the Republic. The Chancellor has issued Order 66."

Something stirred in the back of Rex's mind.

"We were sent here to apprehend and terminate a traitor to the Republic, former Jedi Padawan Tano," The trooper held out a holo comm and Ahsoka's head, short montrals and beaded Padawan braid, blue and transparent spun above the device. "Have you seen her, Captain?"

"Yes, I have Trooper. I can have her come to you."

"We'd appreciate the help, Captain Rex. It's an honor to meet you by the way."

"I may have been removed from the GAR but I still have a duty to the Republic," Rex said and pulled out his comm. He felt like he was back on Teth and the hairless bitch was reaching inside his head but he ignored the feeling. "Captain Tano," He said into the comm.

_"__Rex?"_ She answered, her voice dull and apathetic.

"I ran into some brother in the palace who'd like to see you," he said.

_"__Troopers?"_

"Yeah, Fives and Echo are with them."

_"__Oh, I see. I'll be right there."_ She said. Rex relaxed just a little hearing the harder note in her voice. If nothing else, she'd gotten the message. He could only pray that she got away in time.

"We've a lock on the comm, Captain," the trooper beside Rex said. His heart plummeted, like a grav generator had been flipped on in his rib cage. "Target located, all units proceed to sector 7."

"Thanks for the help," Chuckle said.

"I can do more than that," Rex heard the words but he couldn't tell if he was the one saying them, "let me come with you. I know Tano, she can be tricky."

"Appreciated, Captain," The first trooper said. The three set off back down the halls Rex had come from.

They were halfway back and Rex's heart was pounding against his ribs when the two troopers in front of him stopped. Their heads tipped at the same moment and he could tell someone was talking over the comms he couldn't hear.

"What is it?" he asked anxiously.

"Someone's spotted her. This way." They broke into a run and Rex took off behind them. His leg started to smart and ache after the long walk he'd already taken. He pushed away the pain and powered through it. Ahsoka needed him. For that he would endure.

They ran out onto one of the terraced walkways on the back of the place where it faced a sprawling garden that ran up to the edge of the Plateau. A small togruta figure was sprinting down the pathway around the palace. From above Rex could see that she was cut off from both directions. Ahsoka must have noticed it too because she turned on her heels and ran for the edge.

"She's got nowhere to go," Chuckle said, proving the origin of his name with the near girly noises he was making. Rex wanted to be sick.

"You don't know gundark shit about Jedi if you think that will stop her," Rex said to him and jumped. He knew the landing two stories below would hurt but he wasn't quite prepared for the jarring pain that traveled up his spine. He saw black for a moment and the ground pitched forward. He put his good foot out just in time to catch himself and used it to push off into a run, ignoring the jab that traveled up his side with every bound.

Two thuds came from behind him as Chuckle and his partner followed. They ran after Rex toward Ahsoka on the edge. She was running full tilt and light on her feet toward the edge. Rex knew she could make the jump but if she did… where would she go…

"Ahsoka, stop!" He yelled. She slid to a halt, teetering on the crumbling precipice over the sheer drop toward the shadowed grassy plains.

His feet made skidding noises on the dirt pathway and little clouds of red dust in the light breeze. It took one smooth motion to draw and aim, the chromium plating of his custom DC-17 flashed in the light of the Palace domes, and it took barely a pause to spin the small adjustment dial with his thumb. As soon as his finger depressed the trigger he knew his aim was true.

The blast hit Ahsoka in the chest above her heart just to the right. It lit up her face for a terrible moment, blue eyes washed out by the flash, wide in shock. Her dark lips were parted slightly, breath flowing out of them as a faint cloud of condensation and her chin tipped back.

Then she disappeared into the darkness over the edge.

"You got her!" Chuckle cried in surprise and admiration. Rex slowly lowered his DC-17, the customized chromium plated gift from the people of Naboo, from Senator Amidala and Anakin for saving Padme and Ahsoka, for staying with them, prepared to die for them. The very gift for saving her life he'd used against her. Rex wanted to throw up.

It was Umbara all over again, brother killing brother… but worse because it was Ahsoka, his smirking, smart mouthed commander who danced across battlefields and lingered among her men… and he had shot her.

The rest of the clone trooper squad ran up behind Rex, shuffling to the edge of the plateau and peering down in the darkness.

"Can't see a thing," one of them shouted. "We'll have to get down there, confirm the kill." Rex felt the words like a knife; they hurt more than his leg ever could.

"Get to the speeders. If she's injured we can't let her get away. Fan out, search pattern Foxtrot 6." Foxtrot 6, search and destroy, Rex repressed a shiver. "You the one who took the shot?" Another clone, one who seemed to be in charge, had approached him.

"I am, sir," he replied mechanically.

"Major Pike," Chuckle addressed the new clone as he and his partner came up behind Rex.

"Chuckle, Nickel, report!" the new Clone commanded.

"Sir," Nickel snapped to attention, "We encountered CT-7567, former Captain Rex of 501st in our search of the building, sir. He initiated a traceable comm link to the target and proceeded to accompany us in the search. In pursuit of the target he fired."

"Rex?" Pike turned to his discharged brother, "You served under General Skywalker."

"Yes, sir," Rex replied.

"I heard he was quite a handful," Pike went on.

"He was a crazy inconsiderate bastard, sir, but he got the job done." Even behind the helmets Rex could see his brothers were taken aback by his words. Screw them, Rex thought, I'm not their Captain anymore. Pike laughed.

"Rumors don't do your skills justice, that was some shot."

"Sir, I was just doing my duty."

"Of course. I'll see if I can't get a good word put in for you. The GAR never should have let you go, wounded or not."

"Thank you, sir."

"It was a pleasure, Captain."

"Major."

"Move out, boys!" The clones moved around him. Rex just stood where he was, not trusting his leg or his body to obey his orders. Finally the sounds of their jogging boots faded away.

Hand shaking he managed to raise his blaster, Neg as he liked to call her, short for Negotiator, named for the ever diplomatic General Kenobi. Rex didn't dare think where Kenobi might be, on a battlefield somewhere with his back to Cody, Cody who was loyal to the Republic first and foremost, who wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger and give the order. Rex didn't think about himself, what he would do in that position. Neg shook in his hand but the dial was clear, power was set to minimum, non-lethal. Rex dropped his arm and sighed. That meant Ahsoka was alive, she was nearby and she was injured.

Rex took the first step and pain shot up his spine like it had in the first days of recovery. He gritted his teeth and took another, and another until he was walking. Ahsoka is in pain too, he told himself. She's in pain because of you. She's in pain so I have to bear with it. She needs me so I have to keep moving. And he did.

.

Ahsoka crouched in the turu-grasses, legs bent and the tips of her long trailing lekku just above the dirt, they swayed with the movement in the breezes that rippled across the plains as she staked him. His speeder had landed just a few feet away and he was walking slowly, up to his waist in the white and red grass.

She could hear the others all around her, spread far over the plain. More than one had passed over her where she hid under tangles of the grass, in their shadows, hidden by her coloring. Never had she been so thankful for Jaccar's all too willing teachings.

Now she put every skill she'd learned in the last year to use as she crept up behind him, her sounds masked by the rhythmic swaying of the grasses. She moved with agonizing patience until she was close enough.

He toppled when she pounced, barely resisting, falling sideways under her, sprawling in the tall grass. Her saber ignited with a deadly hum and hovered inches from his throat. Brown eyes met blue for a startling moment and neither of them moved.

"Ahsoka," he breathed her name, "are you alright?" His eyes traveled down from her face and his brow furrowed, mouth falling open in silent anguish. "Haar'chak!" he choked out the curse, "Ahsoka." His eyes flickered back to her face, they were warm and brown just as she remembered and filled with guilt. She deactivated the blade and leaned back off of him, remaining crouched in the grasses.

Rex sprung into action, fumbling at his utility belt for the med pack he always kept there. He pulled out baccta patches and disinfectants quickly. Even as he fumbled with the supplies he glanced at the carnage he'd caused and let out a long breathless stream of cursing.

Her shirt was burned away and the skin underneath was blistered and broken in places, bruising spread cross her collarbone and up her neck, if she were lucky that was the extent of the damage but they might have run out of luck for the day and her collar bone was broken under the mess. He couldn't do anything for that but he could seal the cuts and put baccta on the burns.

Rex reached out toward her. Ahsoka hissed, a menacing primal sound he'd never heard from here. She barred her teeth at him, blue eyes glaring.

"Ahsoka, please, you need to look after that," He said. "I'm sorry, firefek, Ahsoka, I'm sorry I did that. It was the only way… I needed them to drop their guard." He could see her shuddering, even as she held herself away from him and her bright eyes searched his face. She remained frozen as he reached forward. Gently he lifted her lekku off her chest. It was soft under his calloused finger, the skin smooth and it flowed silkily in his grip as he slipped it around her shoulder. Now his view of the damage was clear.

"Does it hurt?" He asked. A quick look at her eyes answered his question. "On a scale of 1 to 10? Higher than a five? A seven?" She shook her head no to the last. He breathed a little sigh of relief.

"Collar bones probably not broken but it might be fractured. We need to get you out of here. This is going to pinch," he said before placing the needle over her neck. She jerked when it fired but didn't cry out. "Pain killer, should help," he tried to smile and failed. Rex started applying the disinfectant. She hissed as the stinging began and he flinched with her.

"It's like I always told the boys," he tried to sooth her, "better disinfected now then infected later. Prevention is the best cure." He saw her grip on her lightsaber tighten and she looked up, closing her eyes so she couldn't see his hands, only feel his fingers, wet with the jell moving over her disfigured skin.

"Another pinch," he warned before the needle entered her shoulder. That, she guessed, was the antibiotics to clear anything that might already be in her blood.

"It's good I keep supplies for the Senator or we'd be out of luck. Human medicine isn't the same as it is for Togruta. I'm surprised I didn't think of it when we were in GAR but I suppose Kix always had you covered then." Rex talked just to fill the silence a little. Ahsoka was never so silent or still as she was while he applied the baccta patches. He was thankful they covered the horrible burnt skin of her chest. He could still remember it though and the smell of burning flesh lingered in his nose.

"There you go, all patched up." He leaned back.

Slowly Ahsoka reached up to feel the patches over the burned skin of her shoulder and chest. Carefully she reached back to her lekku and pulled it back to hang comfortably over the wound. Rex was infinitely glad he hadn't hit that.

"Rex," her voice made him jump. "You shot me."

"Yeah," he said softly.

"I thought you… really…"

"Shot to kill?"

"I—" She shook her head quickly. "They would have."

"Ner vode? Fracking aruetiise (traitors)," Rex growled. "Haar'chak, I'm glad you're alive! But this…" He motioned toward the grasses where above their heads the other clones were searching for them.

"The Jedi have been betrayed… we were all betrayed."

"How do you know?"

"I _felt_ it," she whispered harshly. Rex met her eyes. They were bloodshot from crying but steady on his own. She had the Jedi conviction they got when 'a feeling' warned them of impending danger. Rex knew better to ignore that kind of conviction in a Jedi.

"Alright," he said with a nod. "What do we do? If they don't find your body they might assume you died and some animal carried you off."

She shook her head. "They will never stop looking."

"So, what do we do?"

"We have to get away from here, get off Shili, away from the Republic," She said eyes downcast. "There's nothing we can do right now but hide."

"From who?"

"Everyone!"

"Ahsoka—" He was cut off my beeping of her comm. Quickly Ahsoka pulled it out and turned it on. A small transparent hollo of Obi-Wan Kenobi sprang from the device. Ahsoka's face brightened at the sight.

"Master Kenobi," she breathed in relief.

"Ahsoka, are you alright?"

"For now."

"They came for you too then. Damn, I'd hoped they would overlook you since you left the order but I suppose Palpatine doesn't trust Anakin's former Padawan not to cause trouble."

"Palpatine?"

"Yes, the Chancellor has been the Sith lord we've been searching for all along. He's orchestrated this war from the beginning, from the creation of the clones to this Purge of the Jedi."

"They're really gone, all of them."

"I'm afraid so. But have hope, we survived, others can too. There are people who will keep fighting. I'm with some of them now on my way back to Coruscant."

"They'll kill you!"

"I have to deactivate the beacon in the Jedi temple, it's calling all surviving Jedi into a trap. But…"

"What do you need of me, Master?" Ahsoka asked, seeing his reluctance to request anything of her.

"Ahsoka, I'm no longer your master and I can't force you to do anything, much less risk your life for someone else."

"Please, Obi-Wan."

"Anakin is badly injured and on his way to Kalevala. Senator Amidala is there and she's in danger. He can't save her and he needs medical attention."

"I'll go."

"I'll send you the coordinates of their location, but, Ahsoka, be careful. Anakin is… unstable. He's close to loosing everything he cares about. Padme is more than just a friend to him, she's pregnant with his child. If they don't make it… I don't know what will happen to him."

"I understand, Obi-Wan." Ahsoka said with a serious nod.

"Thank you. And Ahsoka, may the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you." She returned the blessing and terminated the comm. Reverently she held the small device to her chest as if it were Obi-Wan himself and she could embrace him. Rex's chest ached as he watched the bittersweet moment. Obi-Wan and Anakin were still alive, that knowledge at least would comfort her.

Something stirred again in the back of his mind but he pushed it away.

"We need a ship," Ahsoka said.

"We can't go back to Shili-kai," he glanced at the city plateau rising above them. "They'll have every ship and landing pad covered."

"Then we go to Shaddak, it's up the river from here. The river's lower than the plains so if we fly low over it they won't spot us." She said and pointed east toward a faint snaking shadow that crossed the flat grasslands.

"I'll take the speeder and wait for you by the bank," Rex said with a nod to her. He was surprised to see her reservations.

"Promise?" She asked in a whisper.

"I Promise, Ahsoka."

With a nod she rose onto her toes, bent in a graceful crouch and shifted back into the grasses, disappearing seamlessly in the red and white blades. Rex waited only a second before he mounted his speeder. He took off, winding over the grasslands so his brothers wouldn't suspect anything. He waited until he had drifted ahead of where he judged Ahsoka to be before activating his comm.

"Major Pike, this is Captain Rex of Senator Emala's Guard, I have information for the GAR."

.

Rex's stolen speeder rode low enough to make waves on the shores of the stagnant river that lazily cut into the flat Shili plains. He flew as low as he dared to, watching the grasses speed into a red blur passing just over their heads on either side. Ahsoka rode behind him, her thin arms around his waist and her head resting against his back, tips of her montrals touching his neck as the speeder rocked in the gentle curves of the river. He felt a little better feeling her weight on him even if his back was already aching, he needed to be reminded she was there, she was ok.

In front of them loomed the low flat canopied Talla-trees of the plains with their twisted up-reaching branches. They passed a few secluded groves that made hills in the flat landscape before the sparse forest that dominated the eastern horizon engulfed them. Rex could make out in the distance a faint glow and rising smoke trails in the darkness that marked Shaddak and their last chance of escape.

Ahsoka sat up suddenly.

"What is it?" He called back over the sound of the wind and the engine.

"We've been found."

"What?" How? Rex thought frantically. He felt her shift behind him, standing on the back of the speeder, balanced with her inhuman grace. He heard the buzz of her lightsaber igniting.

Then he saw the lights ahead of him. Two speeders came around the approaching bend, low as they were on the water and barreling straight for them, guns ahead.

"In front, Ahsoka," He cried but it was too late. The first few laser blasts were off target and they made loud splashes in the shallow water. "Frag," he cursed and turned. He grabbed Ahsoka around the middle and pushed off from the seat of the speeder.

They landed with a soft splat in the mud of the bank, rolling into the high reeds. Rex looked up in time to see their speeder swerving in the air, narrowly missing the last few shots before it jerked and crashed sidelong into one of the approaching enemies. There was a quick explosion of engines and short cry of a Clone cut short. It wrenched Rex's chest to hear his brother in pain.

Then the whir of the second engine was on them, the speeder sliding sideways till it hovered right in front of him, barrels leveled.

So this is it, killed by _ner vod_, Rex thought. Then the speeder shot backward as if the engines were pointed in reverse. The driver was thrown around and the vehicle angled down towards the far shore of the river. It crashed there with another explosion that left twisted shrapnel sticking up out of the soft mud.

Rex turned to see Ahsoka, mud splattered and panting, her hand upraised and eyes wide. He'd seen the Jedi do some scary things but never had Ahsoka called on so much power alone.

She looked at him, blue eyes shimmering in the dark.

"How did I…?" She whispered the trailing question as her head whipped back to the wreckage.

"We have to go," He snapped back into reality, "they will have heard and seen that. We need to move."

Scrambling in the mud they made for the trees. Behind them the whine of speeder engines was growing as their enemies approached across the plains.

"How did they find us?" Ahsoka asked as they ran from cover to cover, bending low in the grasses and glancing back constantly at the points of growing light that were their pursuers. She paused behind a Talla-tree to study the points as they spread out behind the two.

"It's like they know where we're going, how could they know? There's a settlement in every direction, how did they know we were going here?" She asked Rex as they crested a small rise, sheltered for the moment by a thicker grove of the trunks.

His footsteps faltered and then stopped. She turned back to him.

Rex's hands were at his sides, hanging limp next to the holsters of his DCs. He looked at Ahsoka with a furrowed brow and his mouth hanging open, working silently to say something.

"Rex?" She asked him worriedly, the wound on her shoulder twinged despite the painkillers.

"I did."

"What?" She whispered. Couldn't be, she thought. Not Rex, never Rex.

"I told them."

"Wh-hy?" she felt hot tears in her eyes. "Why?"

"I told them," he repeated, just staring at her face in horror. Her words from the bar came back, echoing in his head _Why are you killing them?_

The speeder engines whined louder, Ahsoka glanced up for split second and had to make her choice. Spinning on her heel she kicked out and up, catching Rex on the side of his head. He went down without any fight, crumpling like a puppet on cut string into the dirt, sprawled hap hazard. Ahsoka stared at him for a long moment, shaking. She bent down and slid his chromium plated DC-17s out of their holsters and latched them to her belt. Then she took to the trees, leaping toward Shaddak and escape, alone.


	4. Chapter 4

Part IV: "Krell Saves My Life. I Would Rather He Had Let Me Die."

Rex woke up quite suddenly. One moment there was only blackness then he was awake, staring up at the white ceiling and the medical lamp pushed off to the side in his periphery. On the uncomfortable but familiar bed, he lay still and thoughtless for a long time, seeing only the white and smelling disinfectant and bacta mixed with the stench of burnt flesh, not his own.

Slowly he became aware that something was wrong. He was in a GAR Med Bay. The other identical beds, all Clone sized and spotless were empty. The few med droids in that buzzed around were cleaning or resupplying silently. He blinked at the familiar sight but it was still wrong because he wasn't Captain Rex of 501st legion of the Grand Army of the Republic, he was Jaina Emala's Captain Rex Jaig who shot assassins in the streets of Coruscant and yelled at togruta rookies. Rex frowned.

The Med Bay doors opened with a soft hiss and a brother came in, his armor battered but orderly and his hair cut close, only the stylized tattoos he had in place of eyebrows distinguished him from other clones.

"Sir," the clone said, "are you recovered?"

Rex sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. His right leg smarted more than usual but it was bearable. He stood gently and the limb held.

"Yes, I seem to be in one piece," He replied.

"Very good, Captain," the clone nodded. "His Imperial Majesty, Emperor of the First Galactic Empire wishes to speak with you."

"Emperor?"

"The Republic has been reformed into the Empire, Sir. It happened yesterday."

"I see," Rex said, feeling uneasy.

The doors of Med Bay opened once more and a small detail of clones led in a hooded, robed figure. He looked not unlike a Jedi but he was bent forward, hiding in his cowl, shriveled claw like hands poking out of his sleeves held before him. Rex suddenly felt afraid.

Instead of show it, Rex snapped his heals together and saluted like he'd been taught all his life, falling back on what he knew.

"Your Majesty, sir," Rex said, eyes forward and face straight.

"Thank you, Captain. I'm glad to see you're looking well."

Rex made no reply. He focused on his breathing and tried to ignore the smell of decay that hung around the Emperor.

"I heard you were quite helpful in pursuing the traitor, Ahsoka Tano and the information you gave us was instrumental in apprehending her associate, Kenobi, on Coruscant."

"I only do my duty," Rex replied. Ahsoka, traitor, instrumental, the words bounced around in his head with flashes of half remembered scenes like a nightmare. One piece of information stood out, Palpatine, Chancellor made Emperor, was the Sith. Rex suddenly felt naked standing in front of his former Commanding Officer, the highest authority that even now he felt an unyielding loyalty toward that overshadowed any revulsion. Ahsoka had once told him the Force let her sense the feelings of the people around her as if they went around projecting them in an invisible unconscious way. Now all his feelings, love, fear, self-loathing, despair and guilt were laid out for the Emperor to see. So Rex thought of the emotions that he thought the Emperor would look for, he thought of Krell.

He thought of Krell, the traitorous Jedi General who had turned his men against each other, who sabotaged them from the inside, took advantage of their blind trust and abused him and his brothers. That disgust and loathing broiled up inside him. That was what he had to think of Ahsoka, she was the same as Krell. She had to be for those few moments. It was surprisingly easy.

"You were a good soldier, CT-7567. You served under Generals Skywalker and Kenobi for a long time. Your record indicates you learned quite a lot from both of them."

"It was an honor to serve under them, your Majesty."

"Even now that they are traitors to the Empire?"

"No, sir." He said, Anakin and Obi-Wan too became synonymous with Krell and he felt sick with hate. "I failed to recognize them for what they were sooner."

"It is not your fault, Jedi are deceitful and tricky beings. You and your brothers have done a great service to the Empire in eliminating them."

"Thank you, sir," Rex said. He remembered Dogma, the last time that anyone had seen him. Despite it all, despite his own inability to pull that trigger, he was proud of Dogma. It was easy to feel that pride for his brothers now, for taking out the rouge Jedi and protecting their Republic, now their Empire.

"Major Pike has given you quite a stunning recommendation."

"He's very generous, sir."

"No, he is honest. I appreciate honesty in a clone."

"Sir, I did not mean to disagree. I meant only that I am unfit for duty in the GAR."

"You see, honesty. It is a good trait. And you are right, not even I could in good faith return you to your former rank and position but I may have an alternate assignment for you. For it I need clones that I can trust, clones that are honest and loyal to the Empire."

"I am at your disposal, sir."

"Good, good," The Emperor's twisted mouth smiled and his breath hissed out, wreaking of burning death. "I need you to protect my son," the Emperor said, "you will be the Captain of his personal guard and oversee his care as he grows up. Protect him well. Luke is very important to the future of the Empire."

"Yes, your Majesty," Rex heard himself say.

"Very good. Rest well trooper." The Emperor turned and slowly glided with his shadowing guards from the Med Bay. The doors hissed shut again leaving Rex alone.

He collapsed on the hard bed, shaking.

Ahsoka, he thought and his emotions around her warred. Anger, bitterness, resentment fought with grief and guilt. Nowhere in the torrent could he find the affection he remembered feeling for her. Where has it gone? Did I ever love her? Why would I turn on her if I did? Why do I think these things of her? What have I done?

Rex covered his mouth and held back his cries of frustration and grief. Finally surrounded by his brothers again he felt utterly and completely alone. He cried. He cried for losing Ahsoka. He cried for failing to kill her. He cried for his brothers dead at the hands of the Jedi and the Jedi dead by his brothers' hands. He cried in confusion. Finally a Medical Droid approached him, offered him something that Rex took without question. Moments later he was numb. He lay back on the hard familiar bed and stared at the white ceiling, seeing only the white and smelling disinfectant and bacta mixed with the stench of burnt flesh, not his own.

* * *

Author's Note: So… not a happy ending. But there is one… If you're interested let me know and I'll post the continuation of this AU. -Ember


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: THE SEQUEL IS HERE! Or not here but on my authors page. **Remnants** is the sequel to both Only Words and The Expelled. It picks up right at the end of both stories with Ahsoka and Padme. Comments, concerns, suggestions, random drug induced epiphanies: leave them in a review. Hope you like it. -Ember.

P.S. since we're technically not supposed to have whole chapters of just author's notes you get an epilogue thingy. This one is about Rex and set just after the Battle of Teth (a.k.a. The Clone Wars movie - think little huttlet and returning to Tatooine).

* * *

**Epilogue: Dreams**

Rex woke with a start. For a moment he was confused, staring at the slats of the bed above him and trying to reconcile where he knew he was with the silence in his ears. The Torrent Company berth echoed with breathing of just six men. One hundred and thirty seven bunks laid empty.

Rex wondered whose bunk he was lying in. It wasn't strange for him to sleep with the rest of his men even though as a Captain he had his own quarters on the Resolute. There was always a bunk open somewhere: a dead man's bed or one vacated by a recovering trooper staying in the Med bay. There was something soothing about sleeping surrounded by his brothers, their mixed breathing making a comfortable white noise in the large space. It also gave him a chance to sit down with his men and ask about the missing troopers; it showed them he cared. He would never know who slept in this particular bunk before Teth. None of the six survivors around him remembered the dead man who had once called the six foot by two foot space home. There were one hundred and thirty seven bunks just like it.

"You awake Captain?" Coric asked from the bunk above Rex.

"Yeah, _vod_, I'm awake." Rex whispered so as not to wake the others. Coric must have been thinking the same thing because he held out his hand over the edge of the bed. Rex wordlessly passed up the medic's helmet and slipped on his own. Inside their buckets they could talk normally without waking anyone.

"Couldn't sleep?" Coric asked.

"Couldn't stay asleep," Rex replied.

"Nightmares?"

Rex was silent. Who wouldn't have nightmares after what they had been through? He felt like he should say yes, if only to make the medic feel better. Coric had lost more brothers in his care in the past 24 hours than any medic should ever have to bear. Teth would be as much of a scar for him as it would be for Rex. And it would be the truth to say he had nightmares, they just weren't about Teth.

"They all get them," Coric went on when Rex was quiet. "The men, I mean, they all have them. Even the shinnies. They tell me, you know, because I'm the medic and they worry it's… a sign of deficiency." Deficiency was every clone's fear on Kamino. A deficient clone went through reconditioning and if he survived was never quite the same again.

"Every soldier has nightmares. Even Kaminoan's can't breed that out of us," Rex replied.

"Sometimes I think they breed it into us," Coric replied. "You see I get the same ones."

"About the war?" Rex asked, trying not to hold his breath. Helmet comms picked up every little breath and swallow, and he was desperate to hide how much he wanted to know if he was the only one. In the end all clones wanted to be like their brothers. They felt safe in the anonymity of it even if they took pride in their meager individuality. Too much individuality, they all recognized, was dangerous.

"No," Coric replied, "about the Jedi."

Rex swallowed reflexively. He didn't need to ask what about the Jedi they dreamed of because he saw it too. It was always the same: a snowy field tainted red and his brothers scattered around him in their equally white armor smeared with blood and burned black in long stripes. In the dream he stood alone on that field and stared down the enemies that closed in around him, lightsabers glowing in their hands and dark faces hooded in their brown cloaks. His gaze would always settle on the last face, his General, Anakin Skywalker glaring at him with burning eyes. Rex knew in that moment that he would hunt Anakin for the rest of his life if he lived. It would be his mission, his sacred fight. He would wake up then, heart pounding and blood racing, ready for a fight he never wanted and crushed with an unfounded grief. Now that grief was all too familiar. He'd felt it on Teth, standing on the bloody ground where his brothers had died: One hundred and thirty eight men who would never return to their bunks.

"I guess you know what I mean," Coric said after his Captain's second pregnant pause.

"Yeah. I know what you mean."

Rex and Coric lay in their bunks without taking off their buckets in silence for the rest of the night. Not talking but neither of them sleeping either. Rex didn't know why Coric did it, but for his part he didn't want to relive the dream that had awoken him. He could live with seeing Skywalker's face in his nightmares every night. He didn't know if he could live seeing the little, Togruta child in her master's place.

* * *

Author's Note: So little tidbit of information, the nightmare is based off of the battle of Galidraan where Jango Fett and the True Mandalorians fought the Jedi. Eleven Jedi died and Jango Fett was the only Mandalorian survivor. That is the origin of his hatred for the Jedi and why he let the Kaminoan's use his genes for the Clone Army; he personally wanted to shoot every Jedi in the back. Too bad he didn't live to see it. -Ember


End file.
